China threatened on Thursday to retaliate against the latest U.S. arms sale to Chinese-claimed Taiwan, as the island welcomed the weapons package but said it was not looking to get into an arms race with Beijing. Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province it has vowed to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. Responding to the U.S. approval of a potential $1.8 billion US arms sale to Taiwan, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a daily news briefing that such sales should stop. "This shows the importance attached by the United States to security in the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan Strait. The U.S. has been pushing Taiwan to modernize its military so it can become a "porcupine" — that is, hard for China to attack.

Source: CBC News October 22, 2020 09:00 UTC